Hannah's History
by Bonesafile
Summary: Hannah has an unrequited love in her past that Booth knows nothing about.  What will happen when the handsome photographer from her past comes to DC and is implicated in a murder?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, I have an hour commute to work on most days and lately I have spent the time thinking of ways for Hannah to gracefully exit. My first two ideas formed my first two fanfics. This is my third idea, not yet fully formed. I figured if Booth has unresolved issues from his past that Hannah doesn't know about, why couldn't Hannah have the same thing? Let me know what you think. I updated quickly in my other two stories because I knew from the beginning not only where they were going but how they would get there. For this one, I know where it ends (of course) but the road there is not yet fully charted.**

**As always, I don't own Bones...**

**Hannah's History**

Chapter 1: The Return of the Photographer

"Mind if we join you, Booth?" Without waiting for a reply, Angela lowered herself awkwardly onto the chair opposite the FBI Agent.

With a bit more hesitation, Brennan sat in the other chair. Although she had done an excellent job of compartmentalizing her relationship with Booth on work matters over the past few months, the two of them were a still awkward in social situations. It helped to have a buffer so that they could channel their attention to whoever else happened to be with them, as Angela was in this case.

"Uh..yeah…sure," he replied with a lopsided smile, turning his attention to Angela. "I'm just waiting for Hannah."

"Well then maybe we shouldn't—" Brennan started, making a move to get up.

"Sweetie, if you think I am going to heave myself out of this chair before I've eaten, you'd better think again," Angela said seriously, picking up a menu. Now in her sixth month of pregnancy, the expectant mother became very grumpy if not regularly fed.

Brennan slid back down in her chair and smiled apologetically at Booth. She noticed then that he was gazing out the window with narrowed eyes. She followed his gaze and saw Hannah across the street greeting someone. A man. A gorgeous man, tall with dirty blond hair and very symmetrical features. Glancing briefly back at Booth, Brennan was not surprised to see the scowl on his lips.

Turning her head once again towards the window, Brennan observed Hannah in very animated conversation with the stranger. While speaking, she touched his arm with discernable familiarity. Then she gestured towards the diner and said something but the man shook his head. Hannah then gripped his arm with both of hers and pulled him in their direction. Booth abruptly grabbed a menu and held it up in front of him.

"I don't think that will work Booth," Brennan said, extracting the menu from his grip and putting it back in the stand. "You never use the menu here. Hannah will see right through it. Better to just pretend we're discussing a case or something."

"Thanks Bones," Booth said, looking directly at her for the first time. "So, how is the analysis going on the Mason case?"

Angela lowered the menu, confused. "What? What'd I miss?" Her gaze sharpened as she noticed Hannah and the ruggedly handsome blond man come in the front door of the diner. "Ah, so who—"

"We've identified cause of death," Brennan said loudly, cutting Angela off, "so now we just need to narrow down the murder weapon. Definitely steel, serrated –"

"Seeley, Temperance, Angela," Hannah interrupted, practically bouncing with excitement. "There's someone I want you to meet. I just ran in to him on the street outside the diner." She was still gripping the man's arm with one hand and now she pulled him forward so that he stood by her side in the aisle. "This is Jake Nathans. Jake and I had a lot of assignments together when I first started out." She gazed up at him with undisguised admiration. "This is my boyfriend, Seeley Booth and two of his colleagues, Temperance Brennan and Angela Montenegro."

Booth's face took on such a look of unadulterated disgust that Bones kicked him under the table. Without visibly reacting to the jolt, he did manage to rearrange his features into some semblance of interest as Hannah continued the introduction.

"Jake pretty much taught me everything I needed to know about journalism in a war zone. He's an amazing photographer."

"And a whole lot more if I am any judge," Angela murmured under her breath so that only Brennan could hear.

Booth stood up to shake hands with Jake, using a bit more strength than was technically required judging by the slight wince on the man's face.

"Very pleased to meet you all," the man drawled in a deep gravelly voice with a hint of a southern accent.

Angela sucked in a breath and softly gasped, "Oh my god, does it get any better than that?"

Brennan refrained from kicking her friend as she had her partner, but only in deference to her condition. If Booth heard Angela going on about the man's voice – admittedly very arousing in tone – he'd be even more upset than he already was.

Jake turned to Hannah. "I really need to get going. Duty calls."

The reporter didn't release her grip however. "Wait, are you here with Jane?" At his nod, she continued, though to Brennan she seemed just a bit less enthusiastic. "Great, let me give you my number and the four of us can get together while you are here."

"Well, it may only be a few days and Jane is …um…a bit hard to reach at the moment, but I'd love to get together if we can work it out." He pulled out his cell phone and typed in the number as Hannah dictated it. Then he gently extracted his arm from her grasp, bent to kiss her softly on the forehead and left.

Four pairs of eyes followed his retreat, two filled with curiosity, one with hostility, and the fourth with undisguised adulation.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry for the short chapter, but I need to get to the case.**

**Chapter 2: Nicknames**

Booth glanced at the occupants of the table before turning his attention to Hannah, who was in the process of sitting down. Angela was biting her lip and looking down at her placemat as if it held the eighth wonder of the world rather than ads from local businesses. Bones was looking at him with concern, as if she expected him to explode or something. He cast her a brief smile, meant to reassure, but seeing her brows knit in response, he knew he hadn't succeeded.

He didn't want to overreact, but Hannah's giddiness at seeing her former colleague was disconcerting. From his experience, Hannah didn't do "giddy."

"Scribe?" Booth asked when Hannah was seated next to him. "Did I hear him call you Scribe?"

She smiled. "That's the nickname he gave me when we started working together. Why?"

"I don't know. When it's a nickname that no one else calls you, it seems a little…I don't know….personal. And I've never heard anyone else call you that."

"Don't be ridiculous, Booth. You are the only one who calls me Bones," interjected Brennan.

Hannah held out her hands towards Brennan like Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune. "See? Just a friendly interaction between colleagues. No need to read anything in to it." She glanced at Angela who had begun coughing so she didn't notice Booth's pointed glare at the artist. "You okay?"

Angela made a show of taking a sip of water. "Fine, sorry."

Turning back to Booth she asked, "Are you jealous? That's very sweet." She patted his arm. "He's been married the entire time I've known him to Jane O'Malley, a reporter for the New York Times. Anyway, that's on my list of absolute non-starters."

At that point the waitress arrived to take orders, so no one but Brennan heard Angela's muttered "Can't believe that would stop Mr. Photographer from trying though. I got definite 'open for business' vibes from that guy, especially where Hannah is concerned. And that would be difficult to turn down…"

Brennan was forestalled from responding when her cell phone started to ring. Cam. She answered the phone, listened briefly, and then hung up just as Booth's phone began to buzz. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"We have a case," she said. "Body found on a path at the National Arboretum."

**AN: Hmmmm, where's Jake's wife, I wonder...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Bracelet on the Body**

"White female, approximate age late 30's early 40's, height between 5'3" and 5'6," Brennan recited, leaning over the partially skeletalized form on the ground. "No purse, wallet or other id with the body. So, either she was robbed or she was moved. Do you have anything, Hodgins?"

"Definitely not killed here. I've identified various particulates that are more commonly found near a shoreline, although I can't identify the shoreline until I've done more analysis." Hodgins stated, putting samples into a bag.

Cam leaned closer to the side of the body. "Robbery is less likely considering that she's wearing a rather unique bracelet. Expensive. Very intricate design. Middle eastern I think." She unclipped the jewelry and put it into an evidence bag. "May help with identification." She walked towards the evidence tray.

Brennan glanced quickly at the bag as Cam passed by and then put out a hand to stop her boss. "Cam, can I see that?" She took the bag in her gloved hand and turned it back and forth so that she could see the bracelet from various angles. "Booth, you might want to take a look at this."

Booth, who typically stayed out of the way while Bones and the squints did their thing, stepped forward.

"What is it, Bones? You have something that can give me a definitive i.d.?"

She held the bag up to his eye level. "Look at this, Booth. Does it look familiar to you?"

He stared at the bag for a moment, then glanced at Bones with a questioning expression on his face. She nodded. "Yes, it looks like it to me too."

Cams head turned back and forth, looking at one partner, then the other in frustration. Their silent communication sometimes drove her nuts. "What?" she asked in exasperation. "What?"

Bones tilted her head at Booth. He gave a slight shake of the head, indicating that she should do the talking on this one.

Brennan faced Cam. "This bracelet appears to be an almost exact match to the one that Hannah Burley wears, all the time, I think." She looked to Booth for confirmation and was satisfied at his answering nod. "Now, it could just be a coincidence, like the body that wore the same dolphin ring that I wear. Angela would probably know if these types of bracelets are as common as that ring."

Booth looked thoughtful.

"What, Booth?" Bones asked. "Do you have additional information about the bracelet?"

Booth appeared to have something to say but couldn't bring himself to spit it out.

"What, Booth?" Bones pressed. "Did Hannah tell you where she got the bracelet? That could be a help in tracing this victim."

Sighing in resignation, Booth answered. "I once asked her why she wore that bracelet all the time but she just laughed it off. Said that she'd worn it for so long that it felt funny to take it off. It wasn't what she said, but how she said it. Made me think that it held some special meaning she didn't want to share. I filed it away to ask about later, but haven't had the chance yet."

"You want to wait until your relationship is more serious?" Bones asked, confused. "You live together now and, even before that, you told me that your relationship was serious as a heart attack. It seems to me that if you have a question like that for someone that close and it is eating away at you, you'd come out and ask—"

Booth stepped forward towards Brennan, his eyes boring in to hers. "I didn't say it was eating away at me, Bones. You—"

"I can see that it bothers you so the fact that you haven't – "

"Don't make a big deal out of something, when it—"

Cam inserted herself between the two partners. "Okay, back to the case you too." She put a hand on Booth's chest and gently pushed him back. He blinked, as if coming out of a haze.

"Sorry, Bones."

Without replying, she lowered the bag and moved to place it into the tray. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Booth. Perhaps you should just call Hannah and explain about the body and the bracelet. She would likely be forthcoming about its origin in this circumstance. Don't you think?"

Booth nodded and turned to walk away from the crime scene. He didn't want Bones to hear the conversation, especially because he had a feeling he wasn't going to like what Hannah had to tell him.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for all the reviews. Hope you like this update.**

**Chapter 4: The Recognition in the Reporter**

"Excuse me, Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan looked up from the notes on her desk that she was reading. "Sweets, what are you doing here? I am expecting Booth and Hannah any minute, so now is really not a good time."

Sweets took a tentative step into the office, clearly uncomfortable. "Yes, well, Booth actually asked me to sit in with you on this interview. As he was unable to effectively broach the subject with Hannah on the telephone, he thought he might hinder rather than help your line of inquiry should he participate in this conversation."

"Hmmm," said Brennan thinking it through. "That's logical, although I am a bit surprised he wouldn't attend to provide support to Hannah should this prove at all distressing." She focused on Sweets. "That explains his absence, but not your presence. Did he not think I could handle this well enough on my own?"

"He seemed to think that Hannah might avoid giving all the facts so wanted me here to read any unspoken messages that you might not notice."

"You mean the information Booth usually obtains by reading body language?"

"Yes, exactly," Sweets replied, smiling broadly.

Brennan frowned. "Booth knows that I have improved quite a bit in that regard under his tutelage. I also am well acquainted with Hannah, so it would be easier to read her emotions than a stranger's. He really should let me –"

"Temperance? Seeley said you wanted to talk to me about something related to a case?" Hannah strode into the office. "Oh, hello Dr. Sweets, I didn't see you there. Am I interrupting something?"

Brennan stood and motioned for Hannah to sit in one of the chairs opposite the desk. "No, not at all. Sweets will be sitting in on our discussion. Apparently, Booth thinks…." She noticed Sweets emphatically shaking his head and sighed. "Okay Sweets, come sit down and we can get started."

Sweets took his place in the other guest chair.

Brennan reached into a desk drawer and extracted a plastic evidence bag.

"Hannah, we found this bracelet yesterday at a crime scene. Both Booth and I noticed immediately the bracelet's similarity to the one that you wear. I asked Angela and she said that it looks like a unique Mediterranean design so it is not likely available in local jewelry stores."

Hannah's face grew pale as Brennan spoke. "May I see it?" She asked softly, moving to the edge of her chair and extending a hand.

"Certainly," Brennan replied, glancing fleetingly at Sweets as she passed the bag to the reporter. Even she could see that Hannah was very unsettled.

Hannah held the bag up to the light and turned it from side to side. Her free hand went up to cover her mouth, but an audible noise, like a low groan could still be heard. She tore her eyes from the bag and gazed at Brennan. "You found this at a crime scene? Was it?" she gulped in a breath. "Was it on a murder victim? If it was an accident, you and Seeley wouldn't have been called in, right? So it must be a murder." She slumped back into the chair, clutching the bag to her chest. "Oh, God."

Sweets leaned sideways and put his hand on Hannah's arm. "Can I get you anything? A glass of water?"

Hannah blinked. "What? Oh, yes. Thank you, Dr. Sweets."

Sweets hastened out of the room, whispering to Brennan as he passed. "Give her a moment to compose herself."

As soon as he was out of sight, Brennan asked, "This has something to do with the photographer, Jake Nathans, doesn't it?"

Clearly surprised, Hannah looked at Brennan. "How did you know?"

"Oh, I didn't, though you just confirmed it. But Angela mentioned to me that after Jake left the diner yesterday, she noticed that you were fidgeting with your bracelet. She guessed that the bracelet had been a present from him as she had never seen you play with it like that before. Angela had admired the bracelet previously, you see."

Reflexively, Hannah looked down at her wrist and realized that she was clutching the evidence bag in a death grip. She slowly released her fingers and gingerly placed the bag back on the desk. She then jumped out of her chair and began pacing, hands on her hips.

"It's not what you think, Temperance. Or, what anyone thought at the time for that matter. I never had a sexual relationship with Jake. We were partners, colleagues and frankly, at the beginning, even before I found out he was married, I wanted to work with him too much – learn everything about war reporting that he could teach me – to let a sexual relationship get in the way."

Brennan nodded at the logic of this argument, one she had used often herself.

"Oh, I'm not saying he didn't try." She stopped pacing and smiled wistfully at the memory. "But he was married and, after an affair broke up my parents' marriage, I vowed never to be that person, the Other Woman, even if—" She broke off and resumed her pacing.

"Even if you were in love with him?"

Hannah turned to look at Brennan, her head tilted to the side and her arms now folded across her chest. "Another guess?"

"Not this time, no." Brennan didn't know how to explain how she knew, she just did. "I could see yesterday that you had strong feelings for the man. Perhaps the repression of sexual attraction served to intensify the relationship that you did have. Made you close friends and excellent partners. Unlike sexual attraction, strong feelings like that don't tend to fade over time, even in the face of a lengthy separation."

"Exactly! I can't tell you how relieved I am that you understand, Temperance. I don't know why Seeley thinks that you don't get the emotional aspects of your cases. In fact, the reason I couldn't explain to him about Jake was that I knew _he'd _never understand. " She flopped back down in the chair, more relaxed now. "If he knew what conflicting emotions I had for Jake back then, I don't think he'd believe that I've been able to put that all behind me. More than likely he'd drag Jake in and charge him with –" She sat up straight in her chair, alarmed. "Oh, the bracelet! Jane! My God, it has to be Jane!"

Sweets reentered carrying a glass of water, which he handed to Hannah. "Ah," he said to Brennan as he resumed his seat, "I see you followed my instructions as well as usual."

Continuing to look at Hannah, Brennan waved Sweets' concerns aside. "We did wait for you. We talked about something else for a bit and had just gotten back to the subject of the bracelet when you returned."

"Oh, okay," Sweets said, placated.

Hannah made a show of tucking her long hair behind her left ear, effectively blocking Sweets' view of her face long enough for her to mouth a silent "Thank You" to Brennan.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Anticipation in the Agent**

Brennan's head was swimming with a mountain of facts that she could not reconcile in any logical fashion:

-Hannah had repressed her feelings for Jake Nathans because he was married, but if the bracelet on the murder victim belonged to Nate's wife Jane, he may no longer be married.

-Booth had never told Hannah about his feelings for Brennan.

-Hannah had never told Booth about her feelings for Jake.

-Each had moved on, so perhaps they thought old sentiments had no relevance.

-But, were those feelings really gone for good, or just buried?

-She had her suspicions where Hannah was concerned. But what about Booth?

_No. Not going there._

-Brennan needed to focus on repressing her recently acknowledged desires concerning Booth because of his relationship with Hannah.

Still, Brennan's ties to her partner, whatever they were, remained very strong and she knew she had to protect him. The only real conclusion she could draw from all the facts clogging up her brain was that inevitably someone was going to get hurt.

"Bones! Chop Chop! We have people to question! Didn't you get my message?"

Brennan glanced up to see Booth bounce into her office. Bounce? He certainly was brimming with energy and something else…a sort of manic eagerness. His tall frame towered over her as she remained seated at the desk.

"Yes, I did, but I didn't know there was any particular urgency. We haven't received Jane O'Malley's dental records yet, so we haven't made a positive id. And my team is still working on ause of death."

He smiled. "Well, I talked to her assistant and Ms. O'Malley has been missing for over two weeks now, which is unusual, even for her. So we are heading over to the Willard Hotel to talk to the assistant about what the reporter was up to. Even if she is not a murder victim, she is a missing person at this point, so the inquiry is still appropriate. After that interview, we'll check back on the id and if it is positive, which my intuition tells me it will be, we'll bring in Jake Nathans for questioning. He's already been instructed not to leave DC."

Well, Brennan thought, that explained the eagerness. Whether he realized it or not, her partner felt threatened by the gorgeous photographer, perhaps even jealous. Of course, it had to be all about Hannah because Booth was clearly the superior male specimen. She assessed her partner. He was probably an inch or two taller than Nathans, definitely broader and more muscular, and that quirky smile….

"Bones! Let's move." He pulled her coat from the rack and handed it to her as she rounded the desk. "And why were you looking at me that way just now? It reminded me of the way you examine a skeleton after it is first cleaned and put on the table."

She slipped her arms in the coat sleeves, grabbed her purse and rushed to keep up with him as he strode from the room. "I was just thinking that you have no reason to feel jealous of Jake Nathans. You are far better specimen of masculinity, taller, better constructed."

Booth stopped in his tracks and turned to his partner, forcing Brennan to awkwardly stop short.

"Jealous? I'm not—" He broke off as his brain finished processing what she'd said. He grinned. "You think I'm more attractive than Jake Nathans?"

Brennan rolled her eyes. "I didn't say anything about attraction, Booth. That's a subjective assessment in most cases, except of course when one's pheromones…" She stopped, registering her partner's narrowing eyes.

"No," she continued, "I was speaking about your physical attributes, which are definitely superior, anthropologically speaking to Jake Nathans'. But, if you are asking for my subjective opinion, I would come to the same conclusion. Unlike you, with your well-documented preference for blonds, I have always found dark hair and features more attractive."

With that, Brennan took off towards the exit, leaving a suddenly speechless Booth to follow in her wake.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Constructing the Case**

The short ride to the hotel passed in companionable silence.

Booth knocked on the door of Suite 618 and almost immediately a lilting "Coming!" was heard from within.

The ornately decorated door swung in to reveal an adorable pixie of a woman. Aubrey James, Jane O'Malley's assistant was at best, five feet tall and ninety pounds soaking wet. She looked to be in her mid to late twenties. Her short bright red hair stuck out her head in a stylish cut that highlighted the woman's elfish appearance. She gazed up at her visitors with large twinkling green eyes that dominated her small face.

Booth held out his badge. He felt like a giant next to the woman and fought the inclination to bend his knees before speaking as he sometimes did with Parker.

"Ms. James, I'm Agent Booth, from the FBI and this is my partner –

"Temperance! What are you doing here?"

"Aubrey!"

Looking back and forth between the two women, Booth exclaimed, "You two know each other?"

Brennan explained, gesturing towards the other woman, "Aubrey joined my karate class about a month ago and has been coming every day. She's extremely impressive. A third degree and deceptively strong. We grappled once and she threw me to the mat before I even had a chance to get a good hold on her."

Booth assessed the woman with new eyes. He'd seen Bones take down a few men with ease during the course of their partnership, so anyone who could catch Bones off guard must be quite skilled.

"Well, no need to stand in the hallway," Aubrey said, opening the door more widely and gesturing them inside. "Come in, come in. I assume you are here about Jane. That woman can be so exasperating when she's on a story. I gave the FBI the name of her dentist and her doctors, but that's just standard procedure when someone's missing, right?" Apparently she didn't expect an answer to the question as she continued talking without pause. "Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything, Agent Booth? Temperance?"

Watching the woman, Booth was reminded of one of those hummingbirds hovering over a bush. She didn't seem to stop moving for a second. When they declined refreshment, she motioned towards a grouping of chairs. She then perched on the edge of one of the armchairs opposite the two in which he and Bones sat, crossed her legs, and started bouncing the one on top. She also fidgeted with the cord to the reading glasses that hung around her neck. Booth didn't sense nervousness from Aubrey James, just unbridled energy. He figured karate must be an outlet to help keep that vigor in check.

"Ms. James –"

"Please, Agent Booth, Aubrey."

"Okay, Aubrey. We understand that you haven't seen Ms. O'Malley for over two weeks, yet you didn't report her missing to the police. Can you explain that?"

Aubrey dismissed the question with a wave and chirpy laugh. "If I reported Jane missing every time she took off for a week or so on a story, I'd have less credibility than that boy who cried wolf. You see, Agent Booth, Temperance…" She smiled at both of her visitors. "Jane often took off to do research or sometimes to follow her subjects. She'd let me know she was going, but seldom more than where to and what I was supposed to do during her absence. This time the Eastern Shore of Maryland. No address though. She had her cell phone so I could reach her if needed."

Bones nodded in understanding. "And did you speak to her after she left?"

"She called me once three days after she set off to ask me for background information on Senator Wilfred Byron from West Virginia. I collected what she asked for and texted her that I had it, but I didn't hear anything after that. I texted her again a few days later just to confirm that she'd received the first one, but still didn't get a response. Again, that's not particularly worrisome. She can be very intense when she's on a story. Losing track of time, cutting off communications – all very typical for her." She shook her head in a reproving manner.

"Could you give us the dates for each of those instances? When she left here, when she texted you, when you texted back."

"Certainly, most of that will be in my phone. I also have emails on my computer reserving the rental car for her." She hopped up and strode over to her computer. Propping her glasses on her nose, she tapped keys and made a few notes on a hotel notepad. Then she picked up her cell phone, scrolled through a few pages and wrote more notes.

She walked back to Booth and handed him the paper. "Here you go, Agent Booth."

"Thanks," he said, glancing at the notes. Aubrey James had impeccable handwriting, each letter looked liked it had been copied from one of Parker's handwriting primers.

"Now, can you tell me what the story was that she was working on?"

The Assistant didn't sit back down. Instead, she started pacing in front of them, hand on her chin as if in thought.

When she finally spoke, her tone was slow and precise. "Well, the thing is, Jane didn't really share much about a story in its early stages. She was particularly closed off on this one, doing a lot of research herself before she left. Keeping all her notes in a notebook that she carried with her rather than in her laptop."

While the assistant continued to pace, Booth glanced at Bones questioningly. He didn't recall any mention of a notebook being found with the body. Understanding his look, Bones shook her head, confirming his recollection. Not surprising, however, given Hodgins' belief that the body had been moved. The bug man thought she'd been moved from somewhere by the shore, which would fit with the facts the assistant was giving them.

"Based on what little I saw lying around," the assistant's voice broke into Booth's thoughts. "Lying around" was a common code for snooping. He was willing to bet that not a lot happened in Jane O'Malley's work, and possibly her life, that Aubrey James didn't know about.

"…and then her request for information about Senator Byron. I think it had something to do with a secret retreat," Aubrey used two fingers of each hand to form quotation marks around the last word, "that a few senators regularly visited for weekend meetings." Again, the quote marks around "meetings."

Bones glanced at Booth, casting him that gaze that he knew meant she thought this to be a significant clue.

Aubrey threw herself back into the chair. "Sorry I don't know more than that. I think the story was just in its beginning stages really when she took off. We'd only been here a little less than two weeks when Jane left for the Eastern Shore and I know the first week was spent polishing up her last story for submission." She leaned forward, suddenly intense. "You know, there is someone who might have more information. Jane's husband, Jake Nathans. Before she left, Jane mentioned that if this shaped up the way she thought it would, she'd need a good photographer to work with. She had a bunch of photographers in each city that she'd call on for standard work, but whenever she needed high quality work, she'd bring Jake in."

Now it was Booth's turn to send a look his partner's way. This case was going the way he thought it would from the start. That photographer was a smooth operator and he didn't doubt capable of disposing of a spouse that got in his way.

"That's an interesting choice of words, Aubrey, 'bring Jake in,'" Temperance interjected, "where they not often together?"

Aubrey shrugged. "I've been with Jane for eight months now. As far as I know, she and Jake have been together only once during that time. She needed him to shoot some pictures when we were doing a story in Chile. He came immediately when she called and they were very friendly, but I would definitely say they don't have a conventional marriage. You should probably ask him, if you want a better understanding. Jane never talked about it. I don't know where he is though, but I think I have his cell phone number in my phone."

Bones started to ask another question but Booth stood up then, speaking over her. "No need, we already have Mr. Nathans' contact information. This has been very helpful, Ms. James….Aubrey," he corrected at her stern look. "We'll be in touch as soon as we find anything. Come on, Bones." He took hold of his partner's arm and guided her to the door.

"See you in class, Temperance."

These last words followed them down the hall as Booth hustled Bones to the elevator.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Intervention**

Brennan knocked on the office door and then pushed in without waiting for a response.

Sweets glanced up from his computer and shook his head in feigned reproach. "Ah, Dr. Brennan, I didn't see your name on my appointment list for today."

She approached his desk with purpose. "That's because I don't have one, Sweets, and if you have any in the next two hours, you will need to cancel."

"But—"

"I don't have a lot of time to explain, Sweets, so try to follow."

Sweets rolled his eyes but smiled. He knew Brennan and Booth had learned to trust and respect him more and more over the past few years both as a colleague and a friend, even if old habits - in this case Brennan's need to assert her superior intelligence - died hard. He swept an arm in her direction, indicating permission to proceed. Not that she would really wait for his permission, but he liked to at least make a show of having some control over the situation.

"We have an id and general time of death in the case of the body found at the Arboretum. As we suspected, based on Hannah's input, it's Jane O'Malley. She died 16 days ago somewhere on the Eastern Shore. She appears to have been strangled from behind, but we are still working on that as well as on identifying the murder weapon." She glanced at her watch. "Jake Nathans, the husband, will be arriving in seven minutes for an interview. I need you to do the interview with me."

Sweets stood up abruptly, always eager to participate in a case.

"You just need to convince Booth that you should do it instead of him."

Sweets sat back down and rubbed a hand over his eyes in agitation. "Of course, I should have realized that you weren't looking to me for my expertise here. You want me to intervene on your behalf in a charged situation between you and Agent Booth. Am I correct in assuming that you already told him that you didn't think he should conduct the interview and he rejected your concerns?"

"Booth is acting from emotion here. I thought you would have more success with him. I tried the logical arguments: that his predjudice will compromise the investigation, that he would antagonize Mr. Nathans so much that he would be less likely to provide us with helpful information, that if Hannah finds out that he suspects Jake without yet having hard evidence, she will be angry."

"Be careful, Dr. Brennan, that last argument borders on the psychological."

She huffed and then continued as if she hadn't heard. "We need to get facts regarding the victim's marriage. So far they don't add up to a motive for murder. In fact, there is something very strange about the marriage. Booth won't see that though. He just wants Nathans to be guilty. He wouldn't even listen when I explained why Hannah and Jane have the same bracelet. He said it was all about Nathans wanting to get into Hannah's jeans or something like that. It didn't make a lot of sense."

"Get into her pants, Dr. Brennan. It means that Booth thinks Hannah was given the bracelet as a way to lure her into a sexual relationship. If Booth isn't even open to such a touching story as the one that Hannah told us, I think you are right that he will not conduct a productive interview."

"Exactly." Brennan sat down in one of Sweets' guest chairs. "Booth should be down in the viewing room waiting for Nathans to arrive. You should go down and use psychology to get him to stay in that room while we conduct the interview. I'll be down in five minutes. If I go with you Booth will know I asked you to intervene."

Shaking his head at the magnitude of the task Dr. Brennan had set for him, Sweets took the elevator to the floor on which the interview rooms were located and found Booth in the viewing room as expected. The agent was walking backwards and forwards, rubbing his hands together. He looked like the big bad wolf waiting for Little Red Riding Hood to arrive at her grandmother's house. Not good.

"Ah, Sweets. We are going to be interviewing Mr. Nathans about his wife's murder. Are you going to be listening in? Not sure you will be needed for this one. Looks open and shut. Nathans arrived in town one day before the date of death determined by the Squints. He rented a car the day of death and returned it two days later. We have impounded it from the rental car company and Hodgins is checking to see if the tires have any evidence of where it went. The guy is guilty, I'm sure of it." He grinned and swiped his hands together in an up and down motion as if the deal was sealed.

Sweets leaned against the ledge in front of the large window. "Agent Booth, I need to ask you to bear with me for a moment. I am going to post a hypothetical."

"I really don't have the time. Nathans-"

Raising a hand to forestall Booth's argument, Sweets said, "It will just take a minute. Imagine that it is five years from now and that you and Dr. Brennan no longer work together. In fact, you haven't worked together for a number of years."

Panic flashed across the Agent's features. "That's ridiculous, Bones and I-"

Sweets made a calming motion with both hands. "Just a hypothetical, remember. Anyway, it is five years from now. You and Hannah are still together, maybe married."

Booth tilted his head, agreeing with this possibility at least.

"You hear somehow, probably from someone at the Jeffersonian, that Brennan is in trouble. Let's say the type of trouble she got into that time in New Orleans. She's accused of a crime, a murder. Old habits die hard. You tell Hannah that you are going to see if you can help. She asks for the details and you tell her. It looks bad for Brennan, everyone believes she's guilty except for you. Based on your past history, you know she didn't do it, that she was framed."

Booth crossed his arms in an effort to repress his agitation and impatience. "Of course she didn't do it. Bones would never -"

"That's what I would expect you to say, Booth. You know Dr. Brennan better than anyone. Even five years down the line, even in the face of irrefutable evidence, you would never believe her capable of murder. You would be loyal to your prior relationship even after the passage of time. But let's say that you really are one of a loyal few and the everyone else has her convicted. Hannah, with details gleaned from you as well as her own research writes a detailed article, award winning in quality, that lays out all the facts, which of course, would lead readers to the conclusion that Dr. Brennan is guilty. How would you feel about that? How would you react to Hannah just doing her job?"

"Where are you going with this, Sweets?" Booth growled. His expression conveyed that he knew the answer, but needed time to gather his thoughts.

"Booth, I don't presume to know Hannah's mind in this. I can only say that she exhibits signs of loyalty towards her former partner. Given your loyalties, I think that you would be very angry with Hannah were she to write an article that in anyway indicted Dr. Brennan, even knowing that other reporters were doing the same thing. It would be a betrayal. In this case, you are running the risk that Hannah will feel the same way. She knows that there are others who can do this interview and elicit results. For you to conduct the interview, especially were Hannah to hear that you were aggressive and confrontational would, I am sure, seem a betrayal to her. I am suggesting that you remain in this room and watch. I can participate and wear an ear wire so that you can feed me questions if you'd like."

At that moment the door flew open and Bones walked in.

"Booth, Nathans will be arriving soon. Are you ready?" She looked questioningly back and forth between Sweets and her partner.

"I, uh..." Booth bit his lip, still undecided about how to respond.

"Is something wrong?"

"I am going to watch this one, I think. Stay in reserve for the next round. You two are less threatening. Perhaps you can get more information out of him in the first pass by being sympathetic."

Brennan noded approvingly. "Yes, that makes sense. The nice cop, mean cop strategy. Good plan."

Hearing a noise from the inteview room, all three turned towards the window to see Jake Nathans being led in. The agent escorting him gestured for the photographer to be seated and then left the room. The man looked tense, nervous, his tall frame leaning forward in the hard chair, fingers tapping on the surface of the table.

Staring at Jake Nathans with hostility, Booth murmured absently, "Go ahead. Put in your earpieces and go on in there."

He glanced up briefly and smiled as the two moved towards the exit.

"And it's Good Cop, Bad Cop, Bones, Good Cop Bad Cop."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Once I got into this, I realized that Jake has a lot to say, so I had to split it into two parts. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 8: The Interview, Part 1**

Brennan smiled as she took her seat opposite Jake Nathans. Despite Booth's aversion to the man, she'd found him quite engaging, even charming, at their first brief meeting.

"Mr. Nathans, this is Dr. Lance Sweets of the FBI. He and I will be conducting this interview."

"Nice to meet you," replied the photographer in his sexy southern drawl. He reached out a hand to Sweets who shook it. Then, he looked at Brennan. "And please call me Jake, any friend of Hannah's…Now, could you tell me what this is about? I assume it has something to do with Jane. Is she in trouble? I have been trying to find her since I arrived in town, but have come up with nothing."

A loud "Hrrumph" of disbelief sounded through Brennan's earpiece. Seeing Sweets blink rapidly, she knew that he'd heard the same.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you, Mr….Jake—" Brennan began.

"She's dead isn't she? It's not like her to be out of touch for this long, and certainly not like her to miss a meeting that she called me in Europe to arrange."

The photographer was clearly upset, but even Brennan, who was not good at distinguishing emotions, could tell that his reaction was not that of a man who had lost the love of his life. He was not devastated, just saddened and something else. Something odd that she'd have to ask Sweets about later.

"Look at him!" Booth's voice buzzed in her ear. "He looks relieved. Ask him about that. Why does he look relieved?" Ah, thought Brennan, that could be what she saw. Relief. Still, Booth was hardly reliable. She'd have to follow Sweets' lead on this one.

"Yes, we have identified a body found at the National Arboretum as Jane O'Malley, your wife. She died approximately 16 days ago."

"Sixteen days," Nathans repeated. "That can't be right. She contacted me after that."

"Okay, Mr. Nathans," Sweets interevened. "Perhaps we should start at the beginning and work our way back to the present. That is, unless you want to take a few minutes to compose yourself. News like this can be difficult to process."

Jake Nathans rubbed his fingers over his eyes and then looked directly at Sweets. "No, I'd like to get this over with. If what I know can be of any help…." He sat up straight in the chair as if shoring up his resolve. "Ask me whatever you need to know."

"How about? Why did you kill your wife, Mr. Nathans?" Booth hissed.

"Thank you, Jake," replied Brennan pleasantly, ignoring the belligerent voice in her ear. "This could take a while. Can I get you anything? Some water? Coffee?"

Nathans unconsciously ran his tongue over his full bottom lip. Brennan couldn't help but notice once again how attractive women must perceive the man to be. Hannah must be a very strong woman to resist the enticement he presented. No wonder Booth was so skeptical.

As if on cue, the voice in her ear once again buzzed. "Oh, please!"

"Water would be nice. Thank you."

Saying "I'll be right back. Take a moment to gather your thoughts," she hastened from the room.

"Booth!" she said the moment she opened the door to the viewing room. "You need to stop the running commentary in our ears or we are going to turn you off. You are not helping anything."

Booth crossed his arms in defiance. "Why are you being so nice to the man? Would you like water? Coffee? How about a hug?"

"Don't be ridiculous. We are conducting a methodical interview. We need to understand the relationship he had with his wife as well as the circumstances surrounding his arrival in DC. If he murdered her, there must be a reason. You are making our jobs very difficult with the constant griping. So I am asking you to please stop it and allow us to do our jobs unmolested."

Chastened, Booth didn't reply as Brennan reached into the small refrigerator to extract three bottles of water. She left the room without a backward glance.

As soon as Brennan returned, Sweets started the interview in earnest.

"Mr. Nathans, would you mind giving us some background on your relationship with Jane O'Malley? From what little we know, yours does not seem to be a conventional marriage. It appears that you actually were together only once or twice a year and then primarily in a work capacity."

Nathans barked a laugh. "Quite the diplomat, aren't you Dr. Sweets? No, we did not have a conventional marriage. We had an arrangement, I guess you could call it, going on 15 years now. Except for the occasional glitch, it served both of us quite well."

"Could you describe this arrangement?" Brennan knew they'd need a clear understanding of the relationship before she could explore what constituted a glitch. Something in his expression – sadness? regret? – caused her to think that Hannah was likely the glitch he was thinking of at that moment.

Nathans gazed unseeing at the far wall of the room. "Sixteen years ago, I was assigned to shoot pictures for a story Jane was doing about the aftermath of the Siege of Sarajevo. I was young and it was my first significant assignment. Jane was known as a talented reporter but very demanding of her photographers. Only a privileged few earned a second chance to work with her. I was determined to impress her no matter how difficult she was. I knew I had a lot to learn and believed she could teach me."

He paused to take a sip of water. "I will admit that I was dazzled at first by how beautiful Jane was, but soon realized that she had no patience for anyone who did not respect her for her skills. I followed her lead even when it led us into danger and in the process was exposed to unique and spectacular photographic subjects. My first photo essay under her tutelage even won an award. She regularly requested my services after that and I traveled with her around the world."

"So, in working so closely together, you fell in love?" Sweets asked the question of Nathans, but Brennan noticed his sidelong glance at her.

Again the mirthless laugh. "Very romantic, Dr. Sweets, but no. Jane and I never fell in love. We came to a business arrangement, that's all. Many of Jane's colleagues were men, especially in war zones, and they were forever hitting on her. Single, married, old, young, it didn't seem to matter. Jane believed that some survival instinct triggered in men facing the prospect of imminent death. Regular rules didn't apply."

"Very true," interjected Brennan. "In many ancient civilizations, warriors were given carte blanche with regard –"

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan. I think we all have a sense of how people might act in the face of imminent death. Mr. Nathans, I don't understand though how this circumstance relates to your marriage."

Jake Nathans looked embarrassed. "I am not sure how to phrase this appropriately. Jane is…" He stopped, remembering the purpose of this meeting. "…was the one who was good with words. We had worked together on three or four assignments at that point and Jane had apparently noticed that I was having a similar problem to hers. You see, if I may be blunt…"

His statement had been aimed at Brennan, so she nodded in response.

"Women have always found me attractive, so I had a similar problem to Jane's. I would…um….indulge in dalliances from time to time but tried to be very clear that my career never let me stay in one place for very long. Nevertheless, some of the women became attached even after only a few…ah….dates."

Brennan decided to come to the point as Nathans seemed hesitant about being entirely forthcoming in front of her. She'd heard that Southern gentlemen were like this.

"So, after you had sexual intercourse with a woman once or twice," she said, "they thought themselves in love with you and wanted a relationship."

Nathans shifted uncomfortably at hearing his predicament stated so bluntly, but nodded.

"Exactly. After one woman made a scene in the lobby of the hotel we were staying in, Jane invited me to lunch to discuss a proposition. She said that if we were both determined to remain single in order to devote ourselves fully to our work without encumbrance, we should simply marry each other. She acknowledged that rings on our fingers wouldn't stop every suitor, but it would certainly cull the numbers significantly. In my case, she believed that even if I kept…seeing other women….it would be easier to tell them from the start that I had no intention of leaving my wife. She was the source of my best assignments after all, so it would be easy enough to blame work as the reason I wouldn't even consider divorce."

"Mercenary, but logical." Brennan agreed.

"I didn't want to agree at first. I had never wanted to get married but cutting off the option for the foreseeable future seemed a bit drastic. Jane was determined though and offered to use her considerable resources to promote her husband's work. She'd even see to it that I cultivated working relationships with other reporters so that I wouldn't be dependant on her. Looking back at how things developed, I think she had it all figured out. She must have wanted us to be apart much of the year so that she could see other people when she desired to."

"So Jane also had sexual relationships with others?"

"She did, yes. But she was very discrete. I never heard rumors about her. Everyone thought she at least was a devoted wife, separated from her husband by her even greater devotion to her work. A saint. I on the other hand, was a known carouser. Jane said she didn't care what I did when she wasn't around as long as I, how did she put it, 'stayed disease free and never asked for a divorce.'"

"How did you know she had relations with others then, if she was so discrete?"

"Ah, well, we had a bit of a falling out five years or so ago." He held up a hand to forestall questions. "I will tell you about that in a minute. She's dead, so it really doesn't matter anymore. It certainly can't have anything to do with her death. However, her secret life very well could have, I'm thinking, so let me first tell you what I can about that."

Booth grumbled, clearly unable to contain himself any longer. "Likely a diversionary tactic. Don't be fooled."

Brennan nodded. As intended, both Booth and Nathans took the movement as agreement.

"After our little…disagreement…five years ago, Jane stopped calling me in on her best assignments. Instead, a pattern emerged that I deciphered quite quickly. She'd contact me right at the beginning of any new relationship and then again at the end. There would be an assignment involved, often a good one, but the timing was all that mattered to her. She wanted her beloved husband to visit her when a relationship started as a sort of a caution to the new lover – She would show how much she loved her husband in order to give credence to the argument she would later make about not being able to leave him….me. Then, when she wanted the relationship to end, she'd do the same thing. Call me in for an assignment, make a show of how much she missed me and wanted to be with me. During that time, she'd end her current relationship. She'd keep me around until the coast was clear."

"Didn't it bother you, being used like that?" Sweets asked.

"Honestly, I didn't think much about it. Usually the work was good enough to make it worthwhile. Also, as long as I cooperated, Jane really did help me find work with other reporters. My best work can be attributed to her efforts on my behalf."

"Surely you have enough of a reputation at this point that you could make the same contacts on your own."

A pained expression crossed Nathans face. "I did wonder….." Catching himself, he blinked and then continued. "Anyway, when Jane called me a few weeks ago offering up the opportunity to photograph a bunch of Senators involved in something they'd rather not be photographed doing, at least that's what Jane said, I agreed to come to DC. I guessed that whatever relationship she'd started eight months ago, when I last visited, was winding down. The timing was about right. Her involvements never lasted longer than a year."

"Did you meet the person or know their identity?"

"Sometimes I did and other times I didn't. Jane introduced me to quite a few new people eight months ago, but I couldn't tell whether she had an intimate relationship with any of them. She was very good at keeping her private life private. I'd be surprised if even her assistant – that woman who looks like an elf – knew about that side of her life."

Brennan remembered Booth's observation about Aubrey James. He thought that there was probably little in Jane O'Malley's life that escaped the assistant's notice. They'd need to follow up with her on this point.

"Mr. Nathans, it would be very helpful if you could write down for us anyone you remember meeting through Jane when you saw her eight months ago. If she had started a relationship at that time that she was trying to end now, the identity of her lover could be very important."

Jake Nathans leaned forward in his chair. "You think that that person may have killed her when she tried to end it?"

"Obviously what you want us to believe, Mr. Nathans!" Booth spat into the microphone.

"That's certainly a viable theory, Mr. Nathans. There is also, of course, the story she was working on. And, certainly, this odd marriage that you have been telling us about."

Jake Nathans leaned back in his chair in resignation. "I know that the husband is always a suspect. And, if this was five years ago, as you have probably heard, you would have put me in chains already. But now…..now I have no reason, no motive as you'd put it. Our temporary estrangement, as Jane referred to it, is ancient history. And, while those in the know then would not have been very surprised if I had killed my beloved wife, that situation resolved itself and is no longer relevant."

Brennan said, not unkindly, "It is for us to determine the relevance. You need to tell us what happened."

He smiled without bravado. Brennan could see a weary sadness overtake the man. "Of course. I understand. Well, it all began, as I said, five years ago, when Hannah Burley was assigned by her paper to work on a story with me."

When Booth growled loudly in Brennan's ear, she flipped a switch and shut him off.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Interview, Part 2**

Brennan smiled to herself in satisfaction. With Booth out of her head, she could better concentrate on what Jake Nathans was saying and, most importantly, make objective judgments. Sweets hadn't shut him off, so if Booth had something critical to add, the psychologist could help him out.

"Five years ago," Nathans continued. "I was doing some independent work in Iran. I was planning a piece, perhaps a book, about the ravages of war in the region. Anyway, Hannah arrived anxious to hit the ground running. She was looking for a photographer to accompany her and her newspaper at the time suggested me."

Nathans grinned wistfully in recollection. "I almost turned the job down. Hannah reminded me too much of how I had been ten years before. Career above all else, even to the detriment of her safety. She wanted to go into areas where we wouldn't be welcome. I thought by refusing to work with her on stories like that, she'd shift her focus elsewhere."

Brennan raised her eyebrows in question. From what she knew of Hannah Burley, Nathans' lack of cooperation would likely make her more determined.

"Ah, I see you know her quite well, Temperance. No, my tactics did not work. I realized that I'd have to go along if there was any chance of keeping her safe."

Sweets winced and raised his hand to his ear. Brennan could only imagine what Booth was saying.

"And so a very productive partnership was born. We worked together very well. Her paper was pleased with the articles she produced and the pictures that went with them. I did my best to keep her out of danger, but when she rushed headfirst into precarious situations, I worked hard to make sure there was a viable exit."

"What happened? Why did it end?"

"I…uh….I," Jake Nathans, clearly agitated, stopped talking and ran a hand through his thick blond hair.

"Made a pass at her?" It was Sweets' voice, but Brennan had no doubt the question came from Booth.

"Fell in love with her?" Brennan was certain her question was the right one.

Nathans looked back and forth from Sweets to Brennan and then nodded. "Yes to both actually. You see, I never enjoyed working so much with someone as I did with Hannah. It had never been that way with Jane. We looked out for each other, protected each other. Made each other better, both in our jobs and as people. It wasn't at all sexual, which I must admit was very unusual for me. Hannah was all about the work, and I respected that."

Brennan had no trouble finding his description quite credible.

"Then, during one assignment, one of the trucks in our convoy hit a mine – we were embedded with an army division at the time – and the rest of us were stuck in the middle of nowhere, waiting for an enemy attack. Night had fallen and we knew that it would be too dangerous for reinforcements to come until morning. Hannah and I huddled together, held hands, talked. Trying to calm the fear and just make it through. I realized then that I cared more about her welfare than I even did my own. I would willingly have died for her, if that was needed to keep her alive."

He paused and inhaled deeply. "It was a very long night but no one slept. At one point Hannah was so exhausted her head kept falling onto my shoulder and then popping up. She was trying so hard to stay awake. I told her to sleep and she just stared at me, her face so beautiful by the light of the moon. I couldn't help myself, I kissed her."

Again Sweets grabbed his ear, but Brennan ignored the distraction.

"She responded for only a moment, then pushed me away. In that one second, I knew that she loved me. She was pushing me away, but not because she didn't love me. The reasons she had were serious, sure, but I saw them as obstacles to be overcome. She told me that she could never get involved with a married man. Explained about her parents. I wasn't discouraged, though, for I knew the state of my marriage. I told Hannah that I no longer loved my wife. I was afraid that if I told her the true nature of my arrangement with Jane, she would have lost all respect for me. So I just backed off, resolved that, if we made it through that night, I would get divorced and everything would work out."

"But it didn't," Brennan said. "You missed your chance." This last was almost a whisper.

"No, it didn't. Thankfully, we weren't attacked that night. We found out why as we made our way back to the camp. The insurgents had been busy laying waste to a town nearby. They were long gone by the time we came by. The survivors were trying to salvage what they could. Though exhausted, we stopped to help."

Sweets and Brennan both nodded. They'd heard this part of the story from Hannah.

"Passing a pile of rubble, Hannah thought she heard something and called me over. We dug with our bare hands and found a boy, probably eight years old. Miraculously, he was still alive. We carried him to the group of villagers we'd seen down the road. The boy's parents were among them. They offered us a beautiful gold bracelet in thanks. Apparently they had been a wealthy family before the war during the reign of the Shah and still had a small hoard of treasures. They thought Hannah was my wife but when she explained that we were colleagues, they insisted that I take a second bracelet. The first was for Hannah, the second for my wife. They wanted each of us to be thanked appropriately."

He stopped talking then, thoughtful. "Looking back, I think the definitive moment was when I took that bracelet from the father and agreed to give it to my wife. Of course, I only agreed because I thought I could use it as a peace offering when I went to see Jane to ask for the divorce. Seems ridiculous now. Hannah thought it would be the first step towards reconciliation. So, a few days later I left to see Jane and while I was gone, Hannah asked for, and got a reassignment."

"And Jane? What happened with her?"

A flash of bitterness crossed the photographer's face. "She refused to even consider a divorce. Our arrangement was working perfectly for her. We argued. I told her I could just go ahead and file on my own. I'll never forget her reaction. She laughed an ugly, evil laugh. I remember so clearly how it flashed in my head at that moment that I couldn't fathom how I had once thought her beautiful. She said that if I humiliated her like that and ruined the image and lifestyle she had worked so hard to construct, she'd ruin me. She said it casually but I had no doubt that she would do as she promised. She was extremely well connected in the media world. I knew that, at least in the short term, work would be scarce."

"You must have been very angry, desperate even," Sweets said.

Another unhappy laugh. "So, I was, Dr. Sweets. I will tell you that at that moment, had I a foolproof plan for removing my dear wife from the picture, I might have done so. I honestly don't know if I am capable of murder, but had she been killed then, I know I would have been a prime suspect."

He looked up, coming back to the present from the past. He spread his arms wide. "Now though, I have nothing to gain. When I returned and found Hannah gone with no immediate prospects for extricating myself from my sham of a marriage, I decided to let her go. Above all else, I wanted her to be happy. And so we both moved on by necessity. As I described, Jane and I adjusted our arrangement so that we saw each other less frequently, but she worked to insure that I recognized the benefit of not making waves. I guess I became complacent."

Sweets nodded in understanding but then sat up a little straighter and Brennan knew that Booth was once again giving instruction. He leaned forward and said, "Mr. Nathans, how do we know though that history hasn't repeated itself? Perhaps you have fallen in love again and knowing that Ms. O'Malley would not divorce you, decided this time to accomplish your goal through other means."

"An interesting theory, but you will find no facts to back it up. If you ask around, you'll find out that I've had a few – not sure I'd even call them relationships – over the years. Nothing serious though. Believe me, I was a total skeptic about the concept of soulmates, but I have come to believe after all this time that for some people, there is just one other person in the world that they are meant to be with. Sure, you can have relationships with others, even fancy yourself in love, but it's not the same. That person takes up residence inside of you, becomes a part of you. Time, distance may separate you, but then you are together and it is as if no time at all has passed."

Silence filled the room.

Brennan wondered fleetingly how Booth was responding to this speech. Her fingers itched to replace her ear piece, but she resisted the impulse.

Would Booth dismiss these clearly heartfelt sentiments as he had everything else Nathans had said so far? Or, would it resonate with him? She recalled his speech to her a year ago. All of those words about couples who had been together for years and years. How it had been the man who knew. How Booth had known.

She glanced at Sweets but he was focused on Nathans and there was no outward indication that Booth was saying anything to him at all.

Brennan cleared her throat. "Well, if that is the case, perhaps your resentment has been festering these past five years and you finally saw the chance to extricate yourself. I find it interesting that your wife was killed in the same vicinity where Hannah Burley now resides. Once she was eliminated, you could approach Hannah as a free man."

Sweets touched his ear and then nodded at Brennan. Apparently Booth approved of this line of questioning.

Jake Nathans shook his head. "I don't know if you have ever been in love Temperance, and honestly, I'm not sure I'd wish this brand of hopelessness on anyone. But I can assure you, I love Hannah enough to want, above all else, for her to be happy. I have checked in on her from time to time. I found out about her relationship with Agent Booth soon after it started in Afghanistan. Checked him out. He's a good man. Hannah is happy with him, she loves him. I would never do anything to destroy that happiness."

Brennan couldn't fault the man's reasoning. She believed everything he'd said. She glanced at Sweets. Once again there was no indication that Booth had anything further to contribute to the conversation. They had been questioning Jake Nathans for over an hour and no clear motive for murder had been established.

The silence was broken by the buzz of Brennan's cell phone.

"Excuse me." She answered the call and listened intently for a moment before hanging up.

She once again faced Jake Nathans. "That was my lab, they report that particulates from the tires on the car you rented show that the car was driven both to the area of the Eastern Shore where we believe Jane O'Malley was killed as well as to the National Arboretum where her body was dumped."

"I can expla—"

The door to the interview room crashed open and Booth strode in.

"Jake Nathans, you are under arrest for the murder of Jane O'Malley. You have the right—"


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thought we'd take a break before Part 3 of the Interview, so here's a little B&B interaction. Thanks for the reviews everyone!**

**Chapter 10: Interval**

Brennan was out of her seat and moving towards her partner before Booth's words could register with the others. She hooked her arm through his and dragged him out of the door and into the hall. He didn't even have time to pull out his handcuffs.

Once in the hall, Brennan released her partner's arm and spun around to face him. "What is the matter with you Booth? We don't have anything on Nathans yet that will stick."

"I know but –"

"He could have a reasonable explanation for those particulates, including that he had never been in either of those places. You realize that he rented the car two weeks ago. We'll have to interview everyone who rented it after him to insure that none of them made any expeditions to either location."

"I know but –" Booth rubbed the back of his neck, growing uncomfortable now that his temper was cooling.

"Caroline would certainly have something to say about you arresting –"

Booth held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, Okay, I was wrong, alright? He just really got to me with all that talk about soul mates…and letting go….and wanting someone to be happy above all else…." His voice trailed off as his eyes met Brennan's.

She didn't look away. She understood her partner too well. While everyone else would believe that Booth had been set off by Jake Nathan's description of his deep abiding love for Booth's girlfriend, she saw in his sad, regretful eyes that it was Jake's talk of Hannah that had triggered his emotional reaction. The words rang true, too true. He was confused, disconcerted. Strong emotions like that often triggered an outward showing of bravado in Booth.

Brennan waited to hear what Booth would say next, though she knew it wouldn't be anything she wanted to hear. He was with Hannah now and even if his feelings were conflicted at the moment, he valued honor above all else. He would never betray Hannah, neither in deeds nor in words.

As she expected, Booth was the first to break eye contact. He paced away from her slowly and then, more quickly, walked back. "It's just that all of that stuff it's … it's a bunch of garbage. Jake Nathans is all about Jake Nathans. He pissed me off. And you know when people piss me off, I arrest them."

Brennan nodded. She had seen the behavior before. "Well, in this case I think we should proceed as if your outburst never happened. I'll tell him that you had a reaction to cold medication or something. Isn't that what they always say when a star says something stupid on television?"

Booth tilted his head in question.

"No, I haven't started watching TV, Booth. Angela mentioned that to me once when I described an interview I'd given on one of those inane talk shows that my publisher used to book me on. She said they'd just tell people that I had a reaction to medication. It didn't make sense to me, as I was sure I was perfectly lucid in the interview."

When she saw a smile pull at the corners of her partner's mouth, she knew he was back on solid ground.

"I am going to go back in now Booth. We still need to ascertain Jake Nathans' whereabouts around the time of death. You should go back into the viewing room."

She turned, her hand on the door handle. "And please stop yelling in Sweets' ear, he is going to have a terrible headache by the time we are through."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Road Trip**

"We did get a lot of useful information, but we would certainly have gotten a lot more if you hadn't –"

Booth didn't take his eyes from the road. "I know, I know. I told you I was sorry alright?"

Brennan crossed her arms and sat back in her seat.

The third part of the interview with Jake Nathans yesterday had been brief. He had given them the bare facts about where he had been since arriving in DC, but then had clammed up and said that he wouldn't say more without a lawyer. He had been antsy, but neither Brennan nor Sweets had attributed that to guilt. His eyes had kept darting to the door as if one wrong word would bring Booth back in. Brennan didn't press him. She knew that he'd voluntarily surrendered his passport and had agreed not to leave the city. She usually trusted Booth's gut about people more than her own, but based on what she had heard yesterday, she didn't think the photographer was guilty. Of course, it would all come down to the evidence.

She fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed. "Hi Cam, we're on the road so I thought I would check in to see if there has been any progress on the murder weapon."

She listened for a few minutes, murmured her understanding a few times, then hung up.

"Cam says that Clarke found some unusual markings on the hy…." She started to recite the scientific names but, glancing at her partner, stopped herself. "the neck bones. Murder was by a cord or rope less than two centimeters wide but very strong."

"Like a phone cord?"

Brennan shook her head. "No, they are thinking rope because it left an unusual pattern in some of the remaining flesh. Clarke is making a mold to try to identify it. Also, Clarke and Angela have been working on recreating the murder. She was definitely strangled from behind, but the angle of attack is strange. For some reason the person pulled downward rather than straight back."

"What does that mean?"

"We don't know yet, although one hypothesis that Angela has is something we can look into when go the Senator Byron's house. She thinks that perhaps Jane was conducting her stakeout perched on the branch of a tree. If someone came up behind her in that situation, they might have not been level with her, hence the downward motion."

"Good, that will give you something to do while I question the Senator. You can look around the grounds." Booth said the words casually but then braced for a reaction.

"Booth!" Brennan exclaimed, turning towards him. "I think I have proven that I can interview persons in authority without attacking them."

"Yes, Bones, but it makes Caroline a bit squeamish, so she put in a special request that you not be, let me see if I can get the words right, ah yes, allowed close enough to 'punch the lights out of another federal official.'"

"Fine!" she said in a tone that indicated it really wasn't fine. "Is that where we are going first then?"

"Yes, the Senator's house and then the inn where Jane was staying. I called ahead and spoke to the Innkeeper so she's expecting us."

Brennan relaxed back into her seat again. "Did you find out if the Senator is in residence here?"

"Not sure. He's not in his office this week, but he could be in his home state. However, given the fact that his staffers were not very forthcoming, I am guessing he's here doing whatever it was that Jane O'Malley was trying to catch him doing."

Brennan's face lit with interest. "So," she said slowly, obviously thinking aloud, "you are thinking that perhaps the Senator or someone associated with him caught Jane snooping on the premises and decided to do away with her."

Booth smiled. "Why do you suddenly sound like an old detective movie, Bones? Anyway, it could as easily have been that the photographer followed her to her stake out and decided the opportunity was too good to resist."

Sighing in exasperation, Brennan replied, "We've been through this already Booth. If Nathans killed her on the Eastern Shore, which is where the particulates suggest she was killed, why would he move her to the National Arboretum? Why take a chance like that? Surely he could have just weighed her down and thrown her into the Chesapeake Bay. The only person who would have a motive for her not to be found near the Senator's house, is the Senator himself, or someone associated with the Senator."

Booth grunted in grudging acknowledgement.

Brennan stared out the window. "Why is the traffic so slow, Booth?"

"Probably an accident or construction. You never know what you'll find when you're trying to cross the Bay Bridge. Even after morning rush hour like we are now and going in the opposite direction from everyone coming into DC for work, you can still get caught in a couple mile back up at any time. We probably won't get there until after lunch at this rate. That's why I told you to bring a bag. I wanted us to be prepared to stay overnight if we have to."

"Is Hannah okay with that?"

Booth squirmed in his seat. He knew that Bones didn't intend the innuendo he was reading into the question, but it made him uncomfortable nonetheless. "Of course, why wouldn't she be? She often travels for work." After a pause he continued, his tone subdued, "Frankly, I think she'll be happy to have me out of the house right now. She was not pleased with me last night when I came home. Apparently she's been in touch with Nathans and he told her about being questioned yesterday though I don't think he mentioned my attempt to arrest him. If he had, I would have heard about it. She's helping him find a lawyer."

"Booth, they are friends. They used to work together. He probably knows few people in DC. It's natural for Hannah to want to help him. I'd do the same for you. Remember New Orleans? You did the same for me. Partners protect each other."

"They haven't worked together or even seen each other in five years."

Brennan shrugged. She believed that Hannah still had strong feelings for Jake Nathans but she wasn't about to share that with Booth. On some level, she thought he already knew it. Sweets had said something along those lines to her after the interview yesterday while Booth was escorting Nathans out. The psychologist postulated that Booth's uncertainty about Hannah's feelings explained his fierce antagonism towards the man. For once, Brennan was willing to consider that Sweets might have a point.

Not wanting to continue this line of conversation, Brennan pulled some papers out of her bag and began to read.

"Will it bother you if I turn on the radio?"

"No, go ahead, I have excellent powers of concentration."

Booth rolled his eyes and smiled. _That's my Bones_, he thought before he could stop himself. With force of will, he cleared his mind and focused intently on the sports program he found.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Trespass**

"Miss! Excuse me, Miss! This is private property."

Brennan turned from her examination of the topography and made herself smile with as much innocence as she could muster at the man approaching her. He was a large man dressed in a blue uniform that spoke of private security. He was huffing a bit and seemed quite out of shape for someone who was charged with keeping the premises safe. Despite his words, his posture was not the least bit aggressive.

Brennan wasn't accustomed to charming people, like Booth was, but since she was alone and definitely trespassing, she'd have to give it a try if she wanted permission to continue her explorations.

"Oh, am I?" she said in her most innocent voice. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see any signs…" _Except for the low fence with the large No Trespassing sign_, she thought. "I was so taken with the beauty of this place." She made an expansive gesture towards the enormous house perched on the hill in front of them. Though not to Brennan's taste, the house and its surrounding gardens were very striking, so her pretense was at least credible.

When approached from the front, as she and Booth had done, one only saw a one story house with a few small windows facing the street. However, after Booth had knocked on the front door and gone in, she's scurried around to the back, gone down a steep slope and viewed the structure from the rear. The back of the house was a five story extravagance, made almost entirely of glass to give unparalleled views of the Bay. It flowed down the steep hillside and ended with a beautiful stone patio. At the end of the patio began an intricately landscaped garden with carved topiary and statues of roman gods and goddesses. Temperance was now in the middle of the garden, heading towards the place where it ended ten or so meters before the water's edge.

"Yes, that's why I make my rounds, Ma'am. Because once in a while people will come in here to look at the gardens, but the Sen….owner of the house, is a bit nervous about people wandering around his property. Security and all." The guard shifted uncomfortably. His manner seemed apologetic, as if he knew that a woman like the one before him was not really a threat, but he had to do his job anyway.

Brennan smiled in what she hoped was a friendly manner. "Oh, I totally understand. Someone told me about these gardens but didn't say anything about them not being public. Perhaps she didn't know."

"Well, she must have come by when someone else was on duty, because I patrol these grounds on a regular schedule. If I see anyone, I tell them like I told you and then escort them safely off the premises."

"Oh, you would have remembered if you saw my cousin Jane. She is very beautiful – a bit shorter than me, black hair, beautiful green eyes."

The man scratched his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Matter of fact, I think she was here three weeks or so ago. Looking around, same as you. She was pretty, but not as pretty as you, Miss."

Brennan bit her lip on the "I know" that was her standard response to such a compliment. She thought the man must be flirting with her and she needed to play along if she wanted more information about the visitor he was describing. The timing was right for it to have been Jane O'Malley.

"Three weeks!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm. "That's just when Jane was here! You must have been very nice to her because she told me so much about this place and never said a word about being kicked out."

The guard smiled. "Well, she asked if she could just walk around a bit and since I knew that no one was here that day, I didn't see the harm. She had this notebook and said she was making notes for a book about local wildlife – some kind of National Geographic thing, so I let her be. Just told her to be gone by dark and she must have left soon after because I didn't run into her the next time I went through." He stopped speaking but now had a confused look on his face.

"Is something troubling you?" Brennan hoped the curiosity wasn't very apparent in her tone of voice.

"Well…." He started hesitantly. "When I went back through an hour or so after I first saw your cousin, I didn't see any trace of her, as I said, which was good because it was getting dark and I knew that the owner and some friends were going to be arriving at the house that night. But then when I made a patrol later than night, I was approaching the house when I heard an odd sound coming from the garden. It could have been a bird but it also could have been a person. It was like a short shriek. Then I thought I heard movement in the bushes, somewhere over there. He pointed to the far end of the garden, very close to the shore. I called out asking if anyone was there, but didn't hear anything else. Frankly, it was the end of my shift and I was cold and tired, so I left it."

"That's perfectly understandable," Brennan replied automatically. Her mind was racing. Had this man actually heard the crime being committed without knowing it?

"Thing is, I checked the place that the noise had come from the next day. It had rained for a few hours overnight, so if there had been any tracks they were gone. However, the odd thing was that I found a notebook. Her notebook, it looked like. It was lying under one of those carved bushes. The cover was wet and some of the pages were ruined but the middle was in pretty good shape, so I saved it in case she came back looking for it."

"You did? How wonderful!" Brennan's hands actually itched to get her hands on the book. "If you would like to give it to me, I can get it to Jane. I would guess that it fell out of her bag and she didn't realize it until she'd already left."

"You don't mind sending it to her?" At Brennan's nod he continued, "I'll just run up to the house and go get it."

"Can I walk around just a bit more while you go? I promise I won't go anywhere near the house. In fact, if you could point me in the direction of where you found the book, I'll go there. My cousin has a way of finding the best vistas, so I am guessing she probably stopped for a bit to make notes and when she finished, she didn't put the book away, or dropped it or something." She flashed what she hoped was a charming smile.

"You can stay until I come back, just keep to the bushes so you aren't seen from the house. I don't want to lose my job. I found the book, down there." He pointed to a far section of the garden. A good place from which to watch the house without being seen.

Once the guard set off towards the house, Brennan made her way to examine the area the man had indicated. By the time he returned a few minutes later, she had removed the gloves from her hands and pocketed a few vials with soil samples.

When he handed her the notebook, Brennan took the offering in as casual a manner as she could muster. Given its exposure to the elements and the handling by the guard, not to mention the awkwardness of holding the book by its corner as it if were toxic, Brennan decided she'd just have to take it in her bare hands. She saw immediately that water had virtually destroyed the cover and many of the pages. She hoped Angela would be able to recover some information.

Unable to restrain herself, she opened the book and glanced inside. Apparently Jane O'Malley used some sort of shorthand. Brennan had wondered why the guard still believed Jane's cover story that she was writing about nature. If he couldn't decipher what she'd written though, he'd have no reason to believe otherwise.

She looked up at the guard, realizing that he seemed to tower over her because the area in which they stood was almost at the bottom of the hill but still was at a sharp incline. He stood maybe a meter from her and yet his feet were planted on ground a foot or so above where she stood. More information to give Angela.

"Well, thank you so much for your help. I should leave now before you get in trouble."

"Would you like to get a drink later? I'm off duty at eleven."

"That is so nice. I would love to, but I'm actually here with my boyfriend. Long romantic weekend. He dropped me off to see this place that Jane had spoken so highly of, but he's probably back waiting for me at the top of the hill." She hoped her face looked regretful.

With that, she waved and made her way back up the hill to meet Booth and tell him all that her investigation had revealed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The Inn**

Mrs. Avis smiled indulgently at the pair standing before her. "Of course I would be happy to speak with you about Ms. O'Malley, but not until after dinner service is complete. We serve from six until eight. How about if I meet the two of you in Dr. Brennan's sitting room at 9pm?"

When Booth and Brennan agreed to this plan, the woman bustled off to continue with her duties, but not before insisting that her two newest guests sample her cooking. When they explained that they'd had a late lunch – they had grabbed sandwiches after leaving the Senator's house – she said she'd hold a table for them at 7:30.

Used to being in charge, the innkeeper would brook no argument. As she'd shown the partners to their rooms, a small inexpensive single for Booth and a larger suite next door for Brennan (who'd paid for the upgrade), Mrs. Avis explained that she and her husband had left their law jobs in DC after their first child was born. The woman still had the commanding presence and keen observational skills of the litigator she had been.

Peering intently at her guests, she had shown them the adjoining door between their accommodations. Anxious to get as far away from that door as possible, Booth followed Mrs. Avis back into the hall and then changed the subject by describing the purpose of their visit and requesting an interview to discuss Jane O'Malley.

Once the innkeeper could be heard making her way down the stairs, Booth turned to Brennan with an awkward smile. "Well, we have a couple of hours until dinner, so why don't we get settled and then meet back in your sitting room to go over the case? We can Skype with the squints and see if they have anything new as well."

Without another word, Brennan turned, entered her room, and shut the door behind her. Booth stood in the hall gazing after her.

He realized suddenly that he hadn't spent any real time alone with Bones since the Eames case. Considering all of the intense waves of emotion he'd felt throughout the afternoon, that was probably a good thing. His protective instincts had kicked in when he'd returned to the car after his short interview with Senator Byron to find no sign of his partner. She had said she was just going to take a quick look around. His mind raced with pictures of the possible dangers she could have encountered. Brennan appeared just when he was about to go crashing down the hill to look for her. His fear and anger had quickly evaporated into relief at her safe return. That feeling had then changed to intense pride when she told him all that she had learned. She really was an amazing woman.

Suppressing that line of thought, Booth went into his room, loosened his tie, and sat on the edge of the bed to think about the case. He jumped at the knock on his door. As he approached the door to the hall, he realized that the knock was coming from the connecting door to Brennan's room. He rolled his eyes, realizing that his partner didn't share his unease about that particular door. Why was he surprised? She generally didn't share his unease about anything related to male female relations, or, as she would put it, sexual intercourse.

Chuckling, he opened the door.

She stood on her side of the doorway, gazing questioningly at him. "I thought you were coming to discuss the case?"

He glanced at his watch. "I've been in my room what….five minutes?" Shaking his head at her eagerness to get on with work without taking a break, he followed her back into her sitting room and threw himself into a comfortable looking arm chair. Booth found the room attractive in a country-inn, flowered-wallpaper sort of way. There was a fireplace with a cushioned armchair on either side and a large couch with a coffee table. The walls were lined with bookcases and there was no television in sight. If Bones would take the time to relax, this was the perfect place for her, Booth thought.

Another door to his left led into the bedroom. Brennan dashed into that room and emerged carrying a notebook. "Here's the notebook that I told you about in the car. You might want to see if you can decipher it. I couldn't discern anything intelligible." With that, she disappeared into the other room again.

"Thanks Bones." He flipped the book open but saw immediately that the code was not one familiar to him.

"No luck," he said as Brennan emerged again, this time carrying her laptop. "We should take it to Angela tomorrow, but also make a copy for O'Malley's assistant. Wouldn't surprise me if she could read it, unless of course the code was intended to keep her out of her boss's business."

Brennan sat on the couch and put her laptop on the coffee table. "I just connected with Angela."

Booth got up and sat next to Brennan on the couch so that he could see the artist on the screen.

"Hi, you two, I was just entering the data from Brennan's description of the area where Jane O'Malley may have been killed. Of course, we'll know that better tomorrow once Hodgins has a chance to test the soil samples."

"Have you been able to ascertain anything further about the attack?"

"Well, the slope of the hill you described does help to explain the odd angle of attack, why the ligature –whatever it was, and we are still working on that – was pulled at such an extreme downward angle. Hodgins also found some particulates that fit with the theory that she was moved in a boat, something about wood and resin. He's working on identifying the type of boat from that."

"Thanks, Angela," Booth said. "Tell Hodgins to call if he gets anything on the boat. We can check out boat rental places before we leave here. Show around pictures of Nathans."

Brennan rolled her eyes.

Angela said, "You don't give up do you?"

Booth raised his hands palms out in front of his chest. "What? Just covering all the bases."

"I'll leave you two to it," Angela interrupted, laughing. "Nice room, by the way. Cozy."

Booth reached over and shut the laptop, cutting off any further comment.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Dinner and Discussion**

Booth replaced his wine glass and leaned back in his chair, relaxed. When he and Brennan had first entered the dining room of the inn and he'd seen the intimate table for two the Innkeeper had prepared for them, he'd felt a moment of panic, which surprised him. He certainly didn't want to make his partner uncomfortable by putting the two of them in such an atmosphere, but that wouldn't account for the sudden impulse he had to flee. Telling himself that it was absurd for there to be any awkwardness in sharing a meal alone with his partner when they'd done so countless times over the past six years, he'd approached the table and held Brennan's chair out for her. Bones had quirked her lips at him when he did this, but she sat down without comment.

Ignoring the romantic atmosphere, Brennan had just continued their conversation about the case, though her intensity had mellowed a bit, he thought, as they drank the delicious red wine and ate the wonderful dinner selections that the innkeeper prepared for them. Brennan had told Mrs. Avis that she was a vegetarian when they'd discussed having dinner at the inn, but that clearly had not put a crimp in the woman's style. She'd whipped up a vegetable stir fry for Bones that had the anthropologist eating with gusto.

"So, what are you thinking now, Booth, about Nathans? You can see that the hypothesis he postulated about being framed has become more logical with each piece of evidence we discover."

"I must have had more to drink than I thought, because I am almost coming around to seeing the logic in that argument."

Brennan smiled. Booth noticed how her blue eyes sparkled in the candlelight when she got that self-satisfied look on her face.

Abruptly, he straightened in his chair and cleared his throat.

"We are missing a motive for that, Bones. It is much easier to conceive of Nathans' motive for killing O'Malley, than to come up with a motive for someone going to all the trouble to both kill Jane O'Malley and also frame Nathans."

"Booth, motive is your area. I deal in evidence and logic. In that regard, much of the evidence that we have so far points away from Nathans rather than towards him. First, as I already mentioned, there is the fact that the body was moved. If Nathans killed her on the Senator's property, why not leave her there? It would immediately implicate the Senator, especially given that Jane was working on a story, probably scandalous, about him."

Booth nodded. "There is definitely something odd going on in that house. The Senator was pleasant enough while he was telling me that he never heard of Jane O'Malley, but he clammed up when I asked for information about meetings that he held for his colleagues on the weekends. He called them prayer meetings, but I doubt if that would interest a reporter like Jane O'Malley. My instincts tell me that we have either influence peddling or secret hanky panky going on, all in a bucolic setting. I hope we'll know more once Angela takes a crack at that notebook."

Brennan reached over with her fork and scooped a taste of garlic mashed potatos off of Booth's plate. He found he couldn't take his eyes off his partner as she chewed, swallowed and licked her lips with enthusiasm. "Those are really good Booth, are you going to eat any more?"

Blinking to clear his head - how much had he had to drink? - he pushed his otherwise empty plate towards Brennan. "Full. You go ahead."

She continued to recite the facts as she ate. "Then you have the fact that Jane disappeared the day that Jake showed up here. We'll have to confirm that with Mrs. Avis, of course, but why would he lie about something that we can confirm so easily? He said that she left a message with the inkeeper telling him to meet her in the back grounds of the Senator's house. He also said that when he arrived at the house, after dark, he saw a lot of cars arriving with valets doing the parking. All of which makes sense given what you learned about the weekend prayer meetings. Jake said that given the fact that he couldn't get very close to the house and all the security, he drove around looking for another point of access. However, when he realized he'd have to hike a good distance to get there, if he could elude security, and that he'd have to carry his camera equipment into what looked like an iminent rainstorm, he decided to meet Jane at the inn when she returned and accompany her the next day."

Booth chimed in, happy to be concentrating on the case once again. "Another point to confirm with Mrs. Avis - what time he returned and how he looked. If he took a boat out, he might have been wet."

"The guard said that it rained that night, so he probably would have been very wet if he'd had to take the time to load a body into the boat and then travel on the water to wherever a car had been left. That's not the point though, Booth. Not only would the murderer have left by boat, he would have either had to come by boat as well or somehow had a boat available at that precise location. Jake said he arrived here at around six pm which makes sense given when his flight arrived at Dulles that morning. And when he got to the inn, Mrs. Avis gave him the message from Jane. At that point, he wouldn't have known that the Senator's house was on the water. So, it doesn't make logical sense that he could have driven to the Senator's house to see the terrain, hatched a plan to kill his wife, driven around in the dark to rent or steal a boat, carried out the murder and then been back at the inn by eight, which is when he said he returned."

Still unwilling to abandon his prime suspect, Booth asked a bit more petulantly than intended, "So, where does that leave us? Not the Senator, he's too old and fragile to manhandle a body. Did your guard do it? A property like that probably has a fleet of boats somewhere."

"He's not _my _guard, Booth," Brennan replied, taking another sip of wine while she pondered the question. "I guess it's possible. You should question him tomorrow. Unless he is not very intelligent though, I don't know why he would have been so forthcoming with information if he had committed the crime. He even gave me the notebook."

"Well, then, we're out of suspects."

"Angela thinks this seems like a crime of jealousy. Remember what Jake told us about Jane always inviting him to visit when she was either beginning or ending a relationship. What if she was ending a relationship?"

"We don't have any leads. We asked Ms. James and she didn't know anything." He paused, considering.

"What?" Brennan asked.

"That secretary or assistant or whatever you call her. I got the feeling that she knew quite a bit about O'Malley's business. Why would she know absolutely nothing about a personal relationship?"

Brennan tapped her plate in excitement. "You think she's covering for someone?"

Booth narrowed his eyes. "I think she knows more than she is saying."

"Well, whoever it was, the murderer had to have some way of knowing where Jane was going to be that evening. Aubrey said that she didn't know where Jane O'Malley was staying...but what if she did know? What if she knew and she told someone?"

Mrs. Avis arrived at their table at that moment to ask if they needed anything.

Brennan looked up, her mind churning with questions that would have to wait until the woman could speak to them later. Booth, however, couldn't contain himself.

"Mrs. Avis, I know we have an appointment to talk at nine, but I have one quick question now if you don't mind." Without waiting for a response, he plowed on. "Ms. O'Malley's husband Jake Nathans said that you gave him a message when he arrived detailing where he would find Ms. O'Malley."

"That's right, he was a very nice man." She raised an eyebrow in Brennan's direction. "Very good looking."

Brennan agreed. "Very symmetrical features."

Seeing Mrs. Avis' confusion, Booth continued. "Mrs. Avis, did Ms. O'Malley leave a message for anyone else?"

The Innkeeper thought for a long moment, then shook her head. "Ms. O'Malley left the message with me around lunchtime. I was rushing around at the time so jotted down a few notes to remind me for when Mr. Nathans arrived. She said he'd be in later in the afternoon. When he arrived around six, I gave him the message."

Disappointed, Booth thanked the Innkeeper and she hustled off. "If someone knew O'Malley was staying here, it seems the only way they could have found out where she was going that afternoon would have been to follow her and then, once it was clear that her stake out was by the water, to somehow get the use of a boat. We'll have to ask around at boat rental places tomorrow."

"I can do that while you talk to the guard, Booth."

"Sounds like a plan." He lifted his wine glass in a toasting gesture and Brennan clinked hers against it. Without intending to, Booth found himself gazing deeply into Brennan's eyes over the glasses. Their eyes locked and he found he couldn't muster the will to look away.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I thought of something." The intimate moment dissolved at the sound of the Innkeeper's voice and the partners turned their heads to focus on the woman once again standing by their table. "You asked if Ms. O'Malley left a message for anyone else, and I answered that. But that question reminded me of something I'd forgotten. Mr. Nathan's secretary called not long after Ms. O'Malley left and said that Mr. Nathans' flight had been delayed. The secretary asked if Ms. O'Malley had left any message for her husband because he might be so late he'd have to go directly to the meeting place. That made sense to me, so I read the notes I'd written down. Of course, then Mr. Nathans arrived when expected, so I forgot all about it." At that moment, someone beckoned Mrs. Avis from a neighboring table. "I have to go, duty calls! See you both at nine."

The partners turned their attention back to each other, this time all business.

Booth voiced what they were both thinking. "Jake Nathans doesn't have a secretary."

**AN: Okay, as you can probably tell from the meaningful glances, my writing is influenced way too much by what is going on in the show. So, I am hoping to get as much of this done as possible before tomorrow's show when hopefully Hannah will actually be exiting (YAY!). Once that goal is accomplished for real, I anticipate losing my motivation for writing all of these alternate exit scenarios.**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: For those of you so patiently waiting, here's a little B&B action to tide you over. **

**Chapter 15: Night**

Unable to sleep, Booth sat in the one chair in his small room and stared absently at the connecting door through which he had come a few hours ago, stating that he was tired and needed to turn in. In reality, he had reached his limit. He was afraid if he spent any more time alone with his partner in her room he'd do or say something that they'd both regret. With a heavy heart, he told himself that when they returned to DC, he'd have to reinstitute his policy of keeping a safe distance.

The evening after dinner had been very productive. After interviewing Mrs. Avis and having her corroborate everything that Nathans had told them, they'd debated a number of theories that arose from the ever-increasing evidence that the squints reported. The murder weapon had been a black cord. The murderer was either inexplicably bending at the knees when the victim was killed or else was short in stature. The resin and particles found on the victim indicated a wood boat painted dark red. Above all, the murderer had to be strong. Physical evidence indicated that the victim had been dragged, probably from the site of the murder into the boat. After that, she had been taken out of the boat and into some other means of transportation - carpet fibers indicated a car, make and model not yet known. The body then had to have been moved from the car at some point to the path in the Arboretum, presumably at night. Given all they knew, the partners honed in on Aubrey James as the primary suspect.

Because of her pixie-like appearance, Booth had postulated that the woman likely believed that a murder requiring such physical prowess would never be attributed to her. Unluckily for Ms. James however, as a member of her Karate studio, Brennan had seen first hand that the woman was desceptively strong and no doubt capable of moving Jane O'Malley's body, if not with ease, then with a reasonable amount of effort. Booth had asked Brennan if she thought that the cord Ms. James wore around her neck was a possible murder weapon and she'd agreed that it was worth looking in to. While it was unlikely that the woman would continue to wear the exact cord she had used to commit a crime, she could have had more than one of them. The lab could test for a fiber match, even if the cord she now wore was not the same one used in the crime. That one was likely at the bottom of the bay.

Booth had taken the precaution of putting a tail on Ms. James for the night to make sure she didn't disappear. They would bring her in for questioning tomorrow afternoon once they were back in DC.

"I hate to harp on this, Bones, but I have to come back to motive. I think we've established opportunity, but why would she do it?"

Brennan frowned. "You know I don't -"

"I know, I know. You don't hypothesize. But do you think it was personal or professional? From the little I saw, I would say that Ms. James was a control freak. If it got too much for Jane O'Malley, perhaps she had decided to cut her loose and, being the obvious snoop that she was, James found out and decided to kill her boss. Like that woman killed the singer Selena in the 90's-"

"I don't know who that is."

Booth rolled his eyes, all the while smiling indulgently. "Why am I not surprised? She was an up and coming pop singer who was killed by the president of her fan club. The woman was obsessed."

"I would agree that if Aubrey did in fact kill Jane O'Malley, she was clearly under the influence of some extreme emotion. Perhaps she was in love with Jane. Love can make people do strange things." She said the words in innocence, but once they left her lips, she clearly regretted them. Her gaze shifted awkwardly to the floor and she fell silent.

Booth shifted in his chair, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Well, uh," Booth stammered, "If Jane thought her secretary was obsessed with her, calling in Nathans might have made some sense. She could have used her need to spend time alone with her husband as a pretext for letting her secretary go. If there was a personal relationship of any kind, his presense would have made it clear that Jane had decided to move on."

Again, awkward silence enveloped the room. The words "move on" hung between them.

Booth thought he saw a brief flash of pain cross Brennan's face.

At that point, Booth decided to call it a night. It had been a long day and they had a busy schedule planned for tomorrow. He really couldn't get out of the room fast enough.

Now, hours later, he tried without success to keep his thoughts from dwelling on his partner. Every moment with her was a challenge, hard work, but ultimately so fulfilling, as it was tonight when they'd finally agreed on a logical theory for this case. She wouldn't be convinced, of course, until all the evidence was in, but his instincts told him that they were right. Much as he hated to let Nathans off the hook.

Remembering Nathans, he thought of Hannah and smiled. With Hannah, it was all so easy. They never fought, he didn't have to worry about what she might say. Things flowed along. They were comfortable together. That's what he wanted in his life. Wasn't it?

Suddenly, he caught an odd low sound coming through the wall. He couldn't make out the words, if there were words, but someone was clearly crying out in distress.

Not someone, Bones!

He jumped out of bed and ran into the next room. For some reason, he hadn't locked the connecting door and thankfully Bones hadn't done so either.

Entering the sitting room, he paused. If Bones were awake and just muttering to herself, she would not be pleased to see him rush in. He looked down. At least he was presentable enough in a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants.

"Booth! No!"

Hearing his name, Booth stode across the threshhold and into the bedroom. In the dim moonlight streaming in from the window he saw his partner tossing in the middle of the king-sized bed, beating her fists against an unseen assailant. A nightmare. A nightmare about him. Brennan had told Booth about the recurring dream she'd had involving the Gravedigger. How she tried and tried to rescue him from the submarine without success. Surely she wasn't still having that dream. The Gravedigger had been killled.

Booth didn't hesitate. He climbed onto the bed, lay down beside Brennan and gathered her into his arms. Smoothing her hair, kissing the top of her head, he murmured over and over, "Shh, it's okay. I'm here. Everything is okay. You're safe. I'm safe."

Brennan settled down immediately, snuggling her head into his shoulder and sighing softly. They fit together as if they had been sleeping in the same bed for years.

Booth knew he should leave, but he also knew he didn't want to. He rubbed a hand up and down Brennan's back, carefully insuring that her tank top stayed in place. He thought sadly how right this all felt. He'd stay until he knew she was okay. He'd be sure to leave in an hour or so before Bones woke up. Just to hold her for a little while. It was wrong, he knew, but he couldn't resist. If neither Bones nor Hannah ever knew, he'd be the only one with a memory to haunt him.

He felt the sleep that had been so elusive come to claim him. Before it did though, he kissed Brennan on the top of the head one more time and said in a low voice. "I do love you Bones. No matter what happens, that will never change."

He sensed a slight movement against his chest but was too close to sleep to recognize it as the arch of Bones' lips forming into a smile.

**AN: Sorry to all of those people who wanted Hannah to be the criminal. I fully intend to get rid of her, but not like that. **

**Just one or two more chapters to go!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Aftermath**

Brennan sat in the booth at the diner waiting for the others to arrive. She was uncharacteristically nervous, but determined.

Once they'd returned from the Eastern Shore, Booth had become even more reserved in her presence than he had been previously. She'd dutifully worked with him to close the O'Malley case and had avoided situations that would require them to be alone together. She had spent some productive time with Hannah though, which had only strengthened her resolve.

Sweets and Booth had conducted the interview with Aubrey James. When presented with the evidence against her, including the recollection of a fisherman about the "kid" who'd paid him fifty dollars to use his red rowboat for a day, the secretary had lost her composure. She'd ranted about how she knew all the sordid details of O'Malley's relationship with Nathans. How insulting it was for O'Malley to have thought she'd believe that the arrival of the husband would be sufficient cause for her to be tossed aside. The reporter and the photographer were plotting against her, that she was sure of. She decided to teach them both a lesson. She'd moved the body because, she figured, if the Innkeeper knew that Nathans was meeting his wife at Senator Byron's house, no one would believe that he was stupid enough to leave a murder victim there. She picked the Arboretum because Jane O'Malley liked to go there to think, so her twisted mind thought it would be a nice place for her to be. It was not clear whether there had been an actual romantic relationship between O'Malley and James or if that had all been in the secretary's mind. In any case, she'd confessed to the crime and the case was over.

All that remained was the tying up of loose ends.

As if on cue, Hannah and Booth entered the diner. They were laughing as they sat down across from Brennan.

"So, what did you want to see us about, Bones?" Booth asked, looking at her but not meeting her eyes.

"Why don't you two order coffee? This could take a few minutes."

The coffee arrived for Hannah and Booth, but still Brennan didn't divulge the reason for the meeting. She was in the midst of asking Hannah a question about her latest assignment when she saw the woman across from her stiffen, her eyes fixed on the entrance to the diner.

Brennan turned her head and spied Jake Nathans approaching them.

Hannah stood up. "I thought you flew out yesterday," she said without preamble.

Jake smiled. "Hello Hannah, Temperance." He paused then nodded to the man seated in the far corner. "Booth."

Brennan slid over to make room for Jake on her side of the booth. "Jake's flight is this evening. I asked him to postpone his trip for a day as he plays an integral role in the reason why I called this meeting."

Three pairs of eyes turned to the anthropologist. In them, she saw a mixture of curiosity and anxiety. Mostly curiosity in Jake's and Hannah's eyes, but Booth showed extreme anxiety, perhaps bordering on actual fear. She knew he sometimes worried, unnecessarily she thought, about the bluntness of her speech.

"As you all know, to varying degrees," she said, nodding at Jake, "I tend to speak directly and come right to the point. I intend to do that in this case as well, even if it makes you uncomfortable."

Jake and Hannah looked on unpreturbed. Booth actually grimaced. "Bones, maybe -"

Brennan held up a hand to forestall him. "It is my contention that each of the four of us has been acting in direct contravention of our personal interests and feelings."

"Bones, I really think -"

"Wait, Seeley," Hannah interjected, "I am not sure where this is going, but clearly Temperance has something important to say to us."

Booth raised a hand to rub his eyes and sat back in resignation.

"I will start with the incontrovertable facts. Number One - Jake Nathans fell in love with Hannah Burley five years ago and continues to be in love with her." Ignoring the sputtering going on around her, Brennan plowed on. "Number Two - Hannah fell in love with Jake Nathans five years ago but did not act on those feelings, admirably, I might add, because he was married. Number Three - this one is obvious. Jake Nathans is no longer married."

Knowing that there would be no opportunity for rebuttal until Brennan had finished speaking, the others at the table now sat in stunned silence.

"Number Four - Hannah refuses to address her feelings for Jake Nathans because she is in a committed relationship with Booth, again admirable. I make no claim to knowing what those feelings are, although Sweets theorizes that Hannah is surpressing powerful emotions."

"You talked to Sweets about this!" Booth barked.

Bones ignored him and continued. "Number Five - I realized while working on the Laura Eames case that I am in love with Booth. I have of course been willing to suppress my feelings because of my desire for his happiness and knowing that he is happy with Hannah has made this possible. I also find Hannah a very worthy object of his affection."

Hannah bit her lip, clearly holding back some impulse that Brennan couldn't identify. "Thank you, Temperance."

Brennan turned to look intently into Booth's eyes. They were boring into hers, defying her to continue.

"Number Six - while working on this most recent case, and when he thought I couldn't hear him, Booth admitted that he was in love with me. That he always would be. Now, I don't know what that means either. Whether he loves me more or in a different way than he does you, Hannah," she said, turning to look at the reporter. "I am putting this all on the table now, so that we can all move foward from here knowing the truth. Also, both Hannah and Booth are very noble people. They will both act against their own interests to avoid doing something that doesn't conform to their idea of honor. Booth would not break up with a woman he has made a commitment to in order to take up with someone else. I believe I can say the same thing about Hannah. Even for love. Jake, I surmise, though I don't know him as well, is acting the same way that I am. Letting go of the one he loves because he perceives her to be happy in her current relationship. So, the decision to be made is whether everything should remain as it is or if some adjustments are appropriate." She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest signalling a willingness to yield the floor.

Dumbfounded, the others glanced at each other. Suddenly, Hannah emitted what sounded like a choke. That was all it took to trigger Booth. He burst into laughter, at which point Hannah joined him. Jake, startled, smiled tentatively, relieved at the break in tension but clearly missing the joke. Brennan looked around the table, confused and surprised at the unexpected response.

Still laughing, Booth turned to Hannah and raised an eyebrow. She nodded and slid out of the booth to let him get by her. When he stood up, she slid into the seat he'd just vacated. Booth walked over to Jake and made a sweeping gesture with his arm indicating that the photographer should stand up. Jake did so, and Booth sat down next to Bones, now grinning broadly.

Hannah patted the seat next to her, inviting Jake to sit there.

Booth faced Brennan and took her hands in his. "May I speak now?"

Brennan nodded in response. He turned his head to look at Hannah and she nodded as well.

"Last night when I came home, I found Hannah sitting in the kitchen nursing a glass of wine and looking absolutely miserable. Although she denied it, I could tell that she'd been crying. This didn't make any sense to me. I thought the news that Nathans had been cleared of all suspicion in his wife's death would have made her ecstatic. Instead, she looked like she'd lost her best friend. I asked her if she'd talked to Nathans and she said he'd called to thank her for her help and to say goodbye. He was leaving for Europe that evening as there was no longer any reason to stay."

He tightened his grip on Brennan's hands. "It's like you just said. When you love someone, above all else, you want them to be happy. I do love Hannah, but at that moment I realized that her happiness no longer could be found with me. It took a while to get her to admit it, but she finally acknowledged that she had unresolved feelings for Jake and felt like she was letting her last chance slip away. That's why she was so miserable. She didn't want to live the rest of her life wondering what might have happened." He gazed into Brennan's eyes. "She didn't want to miss her chance."

Feeling the color rise in her cheeks at the memory of when those words had last been spoken, Brennan tore her gaze away from Booth and looked towards Hannah for confirmation. She found that Jake Nathans was doing the same thing. Brennan saw Jake raise a hand to Hannah's cheek and brush away a single tear that sparkled there.

"Is that how you feel?" he asked softly.

When she nodded, Jake whooped and pulled her into fierce hug.

Feeling like an interloper, Brennan turned back to Booth, concerned as to how he would react upon seeing his girlfriend embracing another man.

She couldn't contain the surprise she felt when she saw a lopsided smile lighting up her partner's face. "Booth? Are you okay?"

"Okay? I'm better than okay, Bones." With that he raised her hands to his lips and kissed each one in turn. "Hannah and I talked for a long time last night. She asked me how I really felt about you and, freed from my commitment to her, I could finally acknowledge my true feelings. I love you, Bones. I love you and want to be with you, if you'll have me. Please tell me we haven't missed our chance."

Brennan narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. "If you decided all of this yesterday, why did you let me go on like that just now? And why did you look so shocked by what I had to say."

Booth smiled, not in the least surprised by her response. When Bones was flustered, she deflected. Answering the question would give her time to process what he had said.

"Hannah and I decided that we would take some time to figure out how best to proceed. She was going to quietly move out and we'd come up with a story in a few weeks about her reassignment. How we were going to be taking a break. She wanted to approach Jake cautiously, see if they had a chance for a future. Once Hannah was gone, I wanted to wait until our relationship healed before telling you how I felt. If we could just go back to how it used to be, especially spending our free time together, I thought everything would progress naturally. I didn't want to rush you again. I wanted to give you all the time you needed to get comfortable with the idea of a future with me."

Brennan nodded in understanding. "A very logical plan."

Booth laughed. "Yes, but the minute we arrived today, I could tell that you had a very different plan. Problem was, I had no idea what it was. I should have known though. You always have been one to get right to the point." He reached up and brushed an errant strand of hair from her cheek. "That's one of the things I love about you."

Coming to a decision, Brennan shook her head emphatically. "No."

"No, what?" Booth responded, fear apparent in his tone. After all he'd put her through in recent months, he worried that she would reject him.

Time seemed to stop at that moment. The lyrics of the Taylor Swift song playing from the diner's jukebox wafted over them.

_These days I haven't been sleeping_  
_Staying up playing back myself leavin'_  
_When your birthday passed and I didn't call._  
_And I think about summer, all the beautiful times,_  
_I watched you laughing from the passenger side._  
_Realized that I loved you in the fall_

_And then the cold came, the dark days when fear crept into my mind_  
_You gave me all your love and all I gave you was "Goodbye"_

_So this is me swallowing my pride_  
_Standing in front of you saying, "I'm sorry for that night"._  
_And I go back to December all the time._

_Maybe this is wishful thinking,_  
_Probably mindless dreaming,_  
_But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right..._

"No..." Brennan repeated, leaning towards Booth, her mouth close to his. "No, we haven't missed our chance, Booth. I'm willing to give it a try if you are."

**AN: Hope you liked it! I heard the Taylor Swift's _Back to December _when I was driving to work today and some of the words seemed exactly right.**

**Stay tuned for a short epilogue.**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Happy Bones day everyone! Here's to Hannah's exit!**

**Epilogue**

At the blare of the alarm, Booth moaned and tightened his grip on the woman in his arms.

This had become their morning routine. Bones' alarm went off first. As it invariably woke Booth at the same time, he'd take his revenge by trying his best to keep her with him just a bit longer, at least until his alarm went off ten minutes later. His success rate was relatively high. Sometimes he was so successful that they'd be late getting to work.

Today however, Bones squirmed free before he could begin his attack. Dressed only in a white tank top and under pants, overdressed in Booth's opinion, she sprinted towards the front door of the apartment.

Surprised, Booth sat up. "Hey! Where's the fire!"

"No fire, Booth. Go back to sleep. I'll be right back. We have hours before we have to get up. It's Sunday, remember?"

"Sunday!" Booth exclaimed. "Then why in the world did you set your alarm?" He slumped back down in bed and pulled a pillow over his face to block out the nascent light peeking in under the blinds.

He heard the front door close, then felt the bed dip as Bones took up her place at his side. The crinkling of a newspaper spawned his curiosity. He threw the pillow aside and drew himself up to lean against the headboard. "What is so important that you had to wake us up at the crack of dawn?"

Ignoring the annoyance in Booth's voice, Brennan tilted the front page of the Sunday New York Times so that he could see what had captured her attention.

"They did it, Booth! Hannah texted me yesterday to tell me to make sure to read the Times today. Look at this!" She indicated a large spread on the front page of the paper entitled "_Shoregate: The Latest Congressional Scandal_." The text was topped by a few pictures, taken through what Brennan recognized as one of the large back picture windows of Senator Byron's house on the Eastern Shore. "Jake did a great job with the pictures. You can see a lot of men clearly, some engaged in more than conversation with beautiful women."

"Not just men, Bones, _Congress_men. And not just any women, very high priced women, at least that's what Angela told me she managed to decipher from Jane O'Malley's notebook. You never did tell me what was done with that notebook once it was released from evidence after Aubrey James' trial. I guess now I know. What does the byline say?"

"Written by Hannah Burley and Jane O'Malley. Photographs by Jake Nathans."

A few moments of silence followed as Brennan read the article. Without disturbing her concentration, Booth adjusted his position so that he, instead of the pillows, served as Brennan's back rest. He circled his arms around her and nuzzled her right ear.

Still reading, she mumured, "And I didn't do anything inappropriate, Booth. Jake was Jane's next of kin. We asked the police to send all of her personal effects to him. Angela's translation was included to help Jake understand what she'd written. What he chose to do with the information once he had it, was entirely his decision. Just Senator Byron's bad luck that Nathans' girlfriend is a reporter. It is excellently written by the way." She folded the paper and held it up over left shoulder. "Don't you want to read it?"

Moving his lips down her neck now, he reached for the paper with his left hand and then tossed it over the side of the bed.

"Booth!"

"Later, Bones, later. I've got more important things to do right now."

"Mmmmm," she replied, for once in complete agreement with her partner's agenda.

**AN: Well, that is hopefully my last story on the theme of "Getting Rid of Hannah." Looking to tonight's episode to inspire creativity in a new direction.**


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